Pilgrimages are about hardship and sacrifice. For the quarter of a million Catholics attending the three pastoral events during the four-day papal visit, folding chairs, sandwiches and waterproofs were also involved.

They waited for hours in the open air, penned in by crash barriers, fast food stalls, portable toilets and officious security staff, just to catch a glimpse of their spiritual leader. In spite of punitive logistics, they flew in from as far away as Bogotá, Kerala and Nashville.

The real success story of this historic trip was not Benedict XVI, but his flock, who defied expectation and adverse publicity to welcome the pope to Britain, and in doing so raise their own morale. The consensus over turnout was that the pope had been seen by around 340,000 people: 250,000 from the events and around 90,000 on the streets – fewer than John Paul II in 1982, who was seen by 2 million, but significant numbers nonetheless.

In the early hours of this morning, when others were falling out of bars on to the streets to continue their revelry, devout Catholics were heading for Birmingham's Cofton Park with wet weather gear, tarpaulins, vacuum flasks and comfortable clothing. Many arrived in its barren and unforgiving car park at 4am for a mass that was due to start six hours later.

Jimmy Mitchell, who had come from Tennessee, said: "I've got half an hour's sleep but that's not going to stop me. I arrived two days ago so I've seen the Holy Father twice in the streets of London."

Mitchell also saw him in 2008, in Washington DC and New York. "I just love Pope Benedict. For him to be in England, which is a minority of Catholics, I couldn't be more excited."

The pope inspired similar devotion in London where Maria Sonia Wilma, 25, hailing from India, now living in Camberwell, south London, was also fulfilling a lifetime's ambition.

She said: "I am so glad the Holy Father is here. When I was a teenager I told my parents I wanted to go to Rome and I wanted to see the pope before I die. I have been to Rome and I am now seeing the pope here in London. I take it as a challenge to live the Catholic faith. My parents have been watching the visit. They said when I see the pope I should pray so that the blessing flows through me to them."

Another pilgrim, James Egbuono, 14, also from south London, said the pope recognised the future of the church lay with the younger generation. "There are more altar servers and readers than there were before. The older generation are still here but they can't lead us forward. It's up to us. The pope talks about youth more so maybe that's why more young people are coming forward."

Compared with the hajj, the annual pilgrimage by millions to Mecca that boasts awesome visuals and arduous rituals, the three papal pilgrimages appear modest, underwhelming even. But what they lacked in size, they made up for in exuberance. You would never see branded bunting fluttering in the holiest city of Islam, a haphazard Mexican wave or a jaunty singalong. In this respect, and because of its pragmatism and politeness, it was a very British affair.